The Car of the Future is Here

This Self-Driving Rolls-Royce Turns Heads, Replaces Seats with a Sofa

It turns out that Hal is not the voice of the future. Instead, it’s Eleanor. For Stanley Kubrick’s once-futuristic-looking 2001: A Space Odyssey never approached the heights Rolls-Royce reaches for in its new 103EX (Vision Next 100) concept car.

Rolls-Royce reimagined the car of the future and it looks and acts nothing like the pedestrian automobiles of today. For starters, there is no need for a steering wheel. That’s so yesteryear — you might as well be in 2001. This Rolls-Royce Vision is a completely automated driving machine.

You can even lay off your chauffeur. For Eleanor — the Artificial Intelligence heartbeat of the car — will drive you anywhere you want to go. All the while serving as your ultra-efficient personal assistant on the side. Imagine an actually useful Siri.

This Rolls-Royce is not all brains, though. It’s done very well for itself in the looks department as well. The body of the vehicle nearly completely wraps around the wheels, almost making it appear to hover down the street. Measuring in at 20 feet long and five feet tall, this is a ride designed to be noticed. (Thankfully, Eleanor handles all the parking.)

Future Rolls-Royce owners will simply lean back on the sofa inside the car and bury their toes into the hand-woven ivory wool carpet as everyone else stares. Instead of a trunk, luggage compartments are built into the sides of the car, only revealing themselves at your command.

Alas, you won’t be driving one soon. While the Rolls-Royce Vision is already turning heads in select appearances around the globe, this is a concept car, designed to titillate luxury car devotees with visions of a future that’s still decades down the road. Something like this will become reality in many of our lifetimes though.

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Unlike the flying car, Jerry Seinfeld has a good chance of getting this one.